The Beginning of the End
by Angelia Dark
Summary: Dipper is targeted by a demon that feeds on children's souls. Mabel tries to help him. A Pine Tree dies in the forest and a Shooting Star falls, triggering the end of everything. Depravity Falls three-shot.
1. Chapter 1

_**It's October, and I felt in the mood for some Depravity Falls.**_

* * *

There were creatures far more depraved and heinous than one would hope to find that roamed the earth, deplorable things that came from worlds one only had nightmares about. Some of them make their way to the mortal world to feed their desires.

One such creature was considered the lowest of the low, even by the standards of demons. Demons worked with a code of ethics and laws…the better ones, anyway. It was always better to watch humans destroy themselves before taking the spoils, and working with the innocent was even more delicate.

This creature and its ilk cared nothing for ethics. It desired only the flesh and soul of children, and would directly influence them to make it thiers to devour. It would take their minds and make them do terrible things while they sat in the passenger seat and screamed until they broke. What fun was it to wait until they defiled their own souls when it could do it itself?

It was especially impatient this time. It could have used any child, but THIS one was special. Already teetering on delving into things no child should know, and just ripe for the picking. It stalked the child, watching him from the shadows, thinking _'Yes, this is the one. Tonight'_.

And tonight it was.

It waited until the boy was asleep before reaching out into his mind, almost reeling back when he felt the mark of another, greater demon branded into his mind. It knew that scent. This child was marked and off-limits.

Well. Fuck that.

It ignored the mark and pushed past, taking control of the boy's mind. Control was taken with some difficulty; this boy's mind was strong and resistant. But they all fell eventually.

In control, the creature had the boy slip out of bed and walk silently out of the bedroom and out of the house, taking a detour into a closet to grab a rope.

* * *

Mabel jerked awake, her instincts screaming at her that Dipper was in trouble. She turned to Dipper's bed and found it empty. Before she could call for one of her Grunkles to help, she heard the front door shut from downstairs. She hurried to the window and saw her twin walking across the lawn and into the woods.

No time to call for help. Mabel grabbed a flashlight and ran out of the room, jumping half the steps to grab the door and jerk it open, running off in the direction Dipper went, shouting his name frantically.

The woods were fifty times scarier at night, with or without a flashlight, every dark shadow cast by the moon seeming to reach out for her. She kept her fear to herself, her concern for her brother overwhelming everything else. She called his name over and over, swinging her flashlight back and forth, hoping to catch the red of his night shirt in the beam.

Ten minutes of searching led her into a small clearing, and she was in tears by this point. She screamed his name again, spinning a 360 to try to spot him, any sign of him. A sound above her made her jump, and she slowly turned her flashlight upward, hoping it wasn't some bloodthirsty creature about to tear her to pieces.

Instead of some monster, she instead saw her brother fifty feet up a pine tree, sitting on a thick branch fumbling with something. Mabel felt her heart hammer in her chest, setting the flashlight down so it pointed upward, and grabbed the lowest branch to start climbing. She was always a fast, accurate climber, but right now she seemed too slow, fumbled too many times as she made her way up to her brother, blinking hard to get the tears of terror out of her eyes.

She called his name again, sobbing as she finally reached his level, clinging to the trunk of the tree. She asked what was wrong, begged him to answer her. In the light of the moon, she could see he had a rope in his hands that was tied to the thick branch, the end in his hands making a loop.

He slowly looked up at her, and Mabel could see the shining reflection of tear tracks down his face as he raised the loop and pulled it over his head, making soft choking sounds like he was trying to speak but his words were being muffled.

Mabel saw the implications of what was about to happen, and let go of the trunk of the tree, scrambling over the branch like a squirrel, reaching out for him. In that moment, Dipper let go of the branch, his body pitching forward. Mabel grabbed for him—missed—lost her balance—

Her scream lasted for less then two seconds before a sickening crack silenced her. Her motionless gaze forever pinned skyward at the twitching form of her twin, whose in turn was forced to look down, the last thing he saw being his sister staring back up at him. His internal screaming was overpowered by horrible, disgusting laughter as he felt life leave his body, wishing more than anything in the world that he could reach his sister.

The creature stepped out of the shadows, practically shaking with glee. Not one, but TWO souls for it! This could not have gone better! It crawled up to the girl, taking note of what a pure, innocent soul she had. It had not defiled her, but that only made it all the more of a forbidden fruit to devour.

It dragged a foul claw across her ashen face, her wide, terror-stricken eyes, the mouth parted in an eternal silent scream, and coaxed the soul outward, internally marveling at its beauty. A soft white flickering in mother-of-pearl coloring, something that would sate its hunger for so long.

Its jaws opened wide, ready to devour that precious young soul, and in an instant, it found itself thrown back with all the force of a Peterbilt, getting a full-body sense of who it was before it even saw.

Bill Cipher hovered in the air between the two dead children, his body red and eye black in rage, glowering at the loathsome creature. _**"YOU DISGUSTING CREATURE!"**_ he screamed, everything shaking with the force of his voice. _**"THESE SOULS BELONG TO ME! YOU WOULD DARE TO TOUCH WHAT IS MINE!?"**_

He gave no time for the THING to make excuses, his body turning pitch black and expanding out in a hellish mess of formless limbs, eyes, and gaping mouths, all screaming with rage as they tore into the creature and devoured it, leaving nothing behind.

The forest went quiet again as Bill reshaped back to his simplest triangular form, shifting over to Mabel's exposed soul and taking it in his hands. He could feel it trembling in his hold, getting a sense of despair and fear and a yearning for its twin. Bill floated upward to Dipper's body, watching it sway midair for a moment before reaching his free hand into the boy's still chest and bringing it out, taking a light blue soul with it.

He held the two souls in his hands, watching them shift and wisp out for the other before looking up, seeing through the veil of worlds as Stanley and Stanford rushed up, having heard Mabel's scream. He watched as the older twins found Mabel's body, Stan breaking down and shouting for her to get up, unable to bring himself to touch her as Ford looked around wildly for Dipper. He finally seemed to notice the flashlight pointing upward, and followed its direction, dropping to his knees when he saw Dipper's body swinging from the branch almost fifty feet up.

What a shame, Bill thought as he glanced between the panicking brothers and the twin souls in his palms. He had been hoping to take all four together as a set. Oh well. He could divvy up the spoils when the time came. He was sure Stanley would go first, having known the younger twins best and would lose his mind over losing them. Stanford would probably have to have his torn right from his body.

Bill gave an indication of a smile at the souls before opening a rift in his body, depositing the souls safely inside. He could wait, he thought.

He could wait.


	2. Chapter 2

Stanford Pines sat in the bunker, feeling as numb as though he had been dunked in liquid nitrogen, unable to summon up the will to move. All he could do was replay the past couple of days over and over in his mind, unable to turn it off.

Being down in the lab and seeing a flicker on the outside camera in his peripheral. Turning to it and staring in confusion until he saw Mabel run past, looking frightened. Hurrying as quickly as he could upstairs, almost crashing into Stanley, who said he could have sworn he heard Mabel outside.

The two of them ran off into the woods, Stanley holding the flashlight and Stanford with his gun at the ready, frantically looking for any sign of the twins. They paused every few moments to listen out, hearing Mabel's voice from far away calling something. They headed for the voice in the direction they could best guess until they heard a loud, piercing scream that was cut short within seconds.

Ford didn't think he ever saw Stan moving so fast in his life, racing through the woods like the hounds of hell were on his heels until they came to a clearing, shining the flashlight around until it landed on the small, unmoving form on the ground.

Stanley ran up to it, dropping like a rock when he saw that it was Mabel, staring incomprehensibly at her still, dead face, his hands hovering over her, stuck hopelessly between wanting to pick her up and not wanting to damage her any more than she was, brokenly begging her to be okay.

Stanford looked around wildly for Dipper, feeling his heart hammer in his chest. He saw a flashlight on the ground that was pointing upward, and felt every hair on his body stand on end when he heard an ominous creaking of rope above him. He shakily looked up, and felt his legs give out when he saw his great-nephew swinging by his neck on a rope fifty feet up.

Dead.

They were dead.

The children were dead.

Ford felt his brain cloud up, looking around hopelessly like an answer would jump out of the woods, his eyes trailing to Stanley, who gave up the struggle of uncertainty and had scooped Mabel's body into his arms, seeing with sick realization that her head was hanging awkwardly against Stan's arm. _'Broken neck,'_ his brain supplied. He could see Stan screaming his head off, but he couldn't hear anything except the sound of his own blood pumping in his ears.

In a bolt of adrenaline, Ford jumped to his feet and darted up the tree, climbing faster than he ever had in his life, crawling across the branch fifty feet up, and grabbed hold of the rope, pulling Dipper's body up. He could feel sobs choking at his chest as he stupidly thought that it would just asphyxiate Dipper MORE, even though he was DEAD, but he didn't stop until Dipper's body was in his arms.

The rope's knot was tight, tighter than what he could get free with his fingers. With a snarl of rage and sadness, he grabbed the knife in his boot and cut it free from Dipper's neck, sobbing when he saw the bruising rope burn, seeing the snapped vertebrae poking against the skin.

He had to get Dipper out of this tree, he thought numbly, keeping a tight hold on the boy as he crawled back across the branch and climbed back down the tree, sitting back against the trunk just holding Dipper tightly as his muscles gave out and his brain shut down.

Ford blinked once, and it was suddenly dawn. He looked down in his arms, seeing Dipper lying there, as peaceful as if he were sleeping. Ford would have believed it too, were it not for the purpling of the bruising, or the lifeless chill of the corpse. He numbly looked over at Stan, who was holding Mabel the same way, tears still falling down his face.

He said they had to go. They had to take the children out of the open. He didn't know if he had actually spoken or if he had just thought it, but eventually what he meant got through. He and Stanley staggered out of that clearing, Ford leading the way to his secret bunker, which was closer than the Shack was.

It was just a passing idea, to keep the children preserved for now until they figured out what to do.

What WAS there to do? Call their parents and tell them they found their children dead in the middle of the night? That Dipper had hung himself, and it would appear that Mabel tried to stop him but fell to her death? Call the cops? AND SAY WHAT!?

They made it to the cryogenic chamber in silence, finding one of them in use. Ford wiped the condensation off the cover, reeling back when he saw Dipper's frozen form eternally screaming in terror.

That goddamned Shapeshifter—

He covered it before Stanley could see it, already sensing his twin was probably closer to a complete nervous breakdown than he was, and gently set Dipper down in a vacant tube before turning to Stanley. He told his twin that he had to put Mabel inside too, before her body would decay. Stanley refused to give up his hold on her, and it took almost an hour of frantic pleading before Stanley finally put her down next to her brother.

Stanford turned the chamber on, watching it freeze the two small bodies inside, then collapsed on the floor, tucking his legs up and hugging his knees tightly. He struggled to think of something to do, something to say, ANYTHING, but came up short. The only thing he was able to do was just sit there stupidly and stare at the floor.

He didn't know how long he sat there, but he then became aware of Stanley walking past him. He asked where he was going. Stanley just replied he had to go get something from the Shack, and then left.

It didn't occur to Stanford until later that it was probably a very bad idea for Stanley to be alone. He didn't want to leave the kids, but he HAD to. He jumped up and ran from the bunker back to the Shack, his heart pounding when he saw the door was cracked open. He crept inside, becoming aware of the silence inside. Where was Stanley?

He found his answer up in the attic. After searching everywhere else, he climbed the stairs and walked up to the door, getting a heavy sense of dread in his gut before pushing the door open.

Stanley was leaning against the table that sat between the two beds, one hand cradling Dipper's hat and Mabel's favorite shooting star sweater to his body, the other clenched around a handgun. There was a spray of red on the wall and the window.

Stanford stared at the scene for the longest time, until the sunlight outside began fading, then slowly walked up to Stanley's body, kneeling down and removing the gun from the stiff hand, then picked the body up, trudging out of the attic and out of the Shack, not knowing how he managed to make it back to the bunker without his body giving out from no sleep and shock wracking his brain.

And there he was sitting now, leaning back against the cryogenic tube that held the children, and his dead twin lying in his lap with a hole in his head. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would not be getting up again. He had no reason to, none in the world. If only he could will his heart to stop beating, could will his brain to have an aneurysm, if he hadn't dropped his gun back in the woods where he found the kids. He just wanted it over with.

He clenched his eyes shut, feeling numb desperation as he found himself mumbling out that Latin summoning spell he swore he'd never speak again…

"Well, well, well," came the familiar voice, not even having to open his eyes to know what was hovering in front of him. "Look who FINALLY calls. I've been waiting for you, Sixer."

Stanford let out a shaky breath, his arms shaking around his brother. "…Please…" he breathed out, unable to speak louder than that. "…please tell me…you didn't do this…"

"Of course not," Bill said, sounding almost affronted. "Believe it or not, I have a code of ethics. I don't directly destroy people, and I ESPECIALLY don't do so with children. Oh, I'll make deals from sunrise to set, and yes, I took Pine Tree's body out on a joyride, but I left his soul untouched. The lowbrow creature that did this took control while Pine Tree's soul was still in his body. The kid was aware the entire time. Shooting Star just happened to wake up and follow him, and fell out of the tree trying to catch him."

Ford made a sound in his throat that sounded like something a choking, agonized animal might make, tears falling down his face. "…Stanley…?" was all he managed to choke out.

"He lost his mind. He did this to himself." There was no sympathy, just a dry frankness.

Ford leaned his head back against the tank, clenching his eyes shut. Bill tapped his finger on his cane. He was patient. He could wait for it. Okay, maybe some prodding along might help.

"You know, you can be with them again," Bill continued. "I can make it quick and painless. Split-second, you wont feel a thing."

Ford exhaled deeply. "…what do you want in return?" he asked. "You wouldn't be merciful for nothing."

"Oh, you know me so well!" Bill replied in a lighthearted tone. "It's simple. I want the rift." His eye saw Ford's hands clench tightly around Stanley's body, but sensed consideration in Ford's mind. "Gonna be straight here, Sixer. I have their souls." THAT got Ford's attention. The scientist's head snapped up, eyes looking sharp. "They're safe, relax. I've had my mark on you Pines for a while now, and that creature got what was coming to it by daring to touch Pine Tree and Shooting Star."

That didn't seem to be making Ford relax. "I'm serious, Stanford. Their souls are safe. I take good care of what's mine." He held out his hand, a blue flame licking the palm. "You can end it all painlessly, be reunited with your family for all eternity, and all that I want in return is to have the body you leave behind to get the rift."

He saw hesitation in Ford's eyes. "It's going to happen eventually, Stanford," he continued seriously. "Today, tomorrow, a hundred years in the future…this world has an expiration date. And you and your family can either be guests to the party, or party favors to play with." The flame in his palm encased his hand. "At least in this way, you can be there together."

Ford clenched his eyes shut for a moment before looking down at his twin, feeling a hundred regrets flash through him, too many 'thank-yous' and 'I'm sorrys' he should have said to count. He took a deep, shaky breath and let it out, letting go of Stan's body with one hand and clasped it to Bill's feeling that cold lick of fire encase their joined hands.

"…Make it quick," was all he said.

Bill was all too happy to oblige.


	3. Chapter 3

Stan Pines ran around the blackened, ashen forest, looking around wildly. "Dipper!" he called out. "Dipper, where are you?"

Giggling behind him made him turn around fast, but he saw nothing. "Dipper!" There was another giggle, above him. He looked up and saw Dipper swinging from a tree branch, a rope around his neck.

"Dipper!" Stan shouted, his hands on his hips. "You come down here now!"

Dipper squirmed where he hung, grinning down at his Grunkle Stan before reaching up and cutting the rope, dropping to a heap on the ground. He sat up, bones cracking back into place, brushing the ashy leaves from his shirt. "Just having fun," he pouted, grabbing his hat that fell off during the fall and putting it back on.

Stan rolled his eyes—or he would, if he had any to speak of—and cuffed Dipper upside the head. "Where is your sister?" he asked. Dipper just gave him a smirk and stepped to the side about two seconds before Mabel dove out of the tree and tackled Stan down to the ground.

Mabel laughed, hugging her great-uncle tightly. "HA! I got you!" she crowed, punching a fist in the air. "That's ten for Mabel, zip for Stan!"

Stan sat up, grimacing as he cracked his neck back into place, picking Mabel up by the back of her sweater. "You two are almost like normal children, playing around like this," he snorted. Mabel giggled and reached up, poking a finger into the hole in his head.

"And your bones still creak when you move. Almost like you're a normal old man," she retorted.

"Smart-aleck," Stan grumbled, smacking her hand away and setting her down. "We're going to miss the party, carrying on like this. Where's Ford?"

"Dunno," Dipper replied, shrugging. "Haven't seen him in a while." He kicked the ground a little. "He never wants to go exploring."

"And he never wants to play." Mabel slipped her hand into Stan's, pouting. "Grunkle Stan, cant you make him play with us?"

"Don't know if I can, sweetie," he replied, picking up his fez and settling it on his head, hiding the hole in his head from view. "You know how he can get sometimes." He smiled when Mabel tugged on his hand and whined. "Okay, okay. We'll go find him together."

Mabel beamed, turning to Dipper. "You know what THAT means!" she said, and she and Dipper shouted in unison, "HIDE AND GO SEEK!"

Dipper pulled a hunting knife from inside his vest and Mabel reached into her backpack and grabbed her crossbow. They took Stan's hands with their free ones, and the three of them walked through the forest laughing.

* * *

Ford holed up tightly in his bunker, shaking violently. He had finally come back here after a while and found that all of his security methods were destroyed. Even the Shapeshifter was gone, prowling around somewhere in what used to be Oregon and indulging in his newfound taste for human flesh.

But he had nowhere else to go. Nowhere except the Shack, but he was NOT going to the Shack. He wasn't going to risk it, not with that HELL outside.

And not with…THEM.

He hugged his knees tightly, choking on a sob as he remembered when it happened. When he shook Bill's hand and had his soul pulled from his body. Instead of being taken in like he expected, Bill instead took his body and used it to bypass the wards around the Shack, go down to the second-level basement room, and take the rift.

Ford was forced to watch as Bill took the rift outside the wards and threw it on the ground. Forced to watch a tear open up and THINGS crawl through. Forced back into his body and have Bill brand a seal into his forehead that let everyone and everything know he was off-limits. A 'party guest', not a 'party favor'.

He demanded to know where his family was. He shouted at Bill that he was promised to be with his family again. Bill responded that he was more than happy to oblige, and to go check the bunker.

Why did he go check the bunker? Why did he force himself to watch Bill put the souls of his family back into their wrecked bodies and seal themselves in, like zombies with souls.

No. Not zombies. DEMONS.

Bill had twisted the souls of his family into creatures that fit right in with the rest of those monsters who came in through the Nightmare Realm. At first, he didn't notice much. He thought Bill having them basically possess their own corpses was a part of the mind demon's horrible sense of humor. But as time went on, he noticed things.

Dipper liked to 'kill' himself in various ways. His favorite being hanging. The first time it happened, Ford nearly had a heart attack, which only got worse when Dipper just laughed and said it was a joke. Dipper did it over and over again. Hanging, falling from trees, sliding knives into his body, drowning…his body always healed itself over, but it never ceased to shake Ford up.

Mabel liked to hunt. She would hide herself perfectly and leap out, tackling her victim out of nowhere. If Dipper's idea of 'fun' didn't give him a heart attack, Mabel's idea of it did. He was her favorite target. No matter how high up his guard was, she always caught him. He thought it was her twisted idea of coping with this madness until he saw her hunt for real. A woman from town was trying to hide from the monsters that roamed about, and Mabel caught her. Right in the head with her crossbow, that is. And then she laughed.

And Stanley…oh god, Stanley…somehow, Stanley was the worst.

He was the hardest to pin for changed. Ford began noticing when Stan would laugh off Dipper's suicide antics, or congratulate Mabel on her hunting skills. Soon, he began noticing something sinister.

Soos and Wendy had gone missing. They had been staying with the Pines in the Shack, but one day they just weren't there. Ford looked all around for them to no avail. He thought they had a moment of madness and left the Shack, until he found Wendy's hat and Soos' shirt. He didn't think much of it until he found other things. Candy's glasses. Grenda's shirt. McGucket's hat. The necklace of the woman that Mabel caught. He dug in deeper and found something more horrifying.

Stanley was collecting trophies of everyone he or the kids managed to kill, and using their bodies to make 'attractions' for the Shack.

When he confronted Stanley, things got bad, really quickly. Stanley said this was a new world, and it was best to be a part of it. That Dipper and Mabel were kids, and kids needed their hobbies, and that it was his job as a Grunkle to encourage hobbies. To let them know they did a good job.

Ford nearly broke down in a panic, almost sobbing when his brother hugged him, feeling no warmth, no heartbeat from him. And then Stanley said that they should go 'play' with the children. "Not like they can kill us anyway," he said.

Oh god…the last time he 'played'…watching his flesh and bone grow back was an experience he never wanted to see or feel again. He wasn't like them. They took the wounds they inflicted on themselves and each other like it was nothing; Dipper especially thought it was funny. But Ford felt the full agony of pain whenever he was pounced on hard enough to break something, whenever he was shot in the leg playing 'tag', whenever Stan decided the twins needed a lesson in amputating a limb 'just in case'…

Ford choked back bile, hugging his legs tighter.

 _"Every party has a pooper, that's why they invited you…"_

Ford tensed up when he heard the mocking singing of Bill echo through the chamber. He could sense the physical presence of the demon close to him, a pulsing, crawling sensation over his skin.

"You know, you're really not getting into the spirit of things," Bill was saying. "I gave you everything you asked for, Sixer. You have your family. It's not MY fault they got into the swing of things and you didn't."

"…what did you do to them, Bill?" Ford whispered, shaking. "…they….those things aren't my family…"

"Of course they are, don't be silly! It's just, yeah, MAYBE souls get a little weird when I pack them away for a while. But it's definitely them."

Ford felt his eyes tear up, biting his lip hard. "…you're horrible," was all he could say, shaking hard. Bill laughed, and Ford almost puked with revulsion when he felt Bill curl around his body.

Bill had changed somewhat upon having full access to this world. Ford saw it only once before, but that was one too many. A pitch black beast that looked like one long torso with protruding, jagged arms and claws, eyes dotted all of his body and several mouths filled with sharp teeth. On top of that monstrosity was a pitch-black triangle for a head and a red, slitted eye with shadow-like tendrils sifting from it. It was simple to describe, but impossible to look at without going insane.

And now it was TOUCHING him…!

"You need to seriously loosen up, Sixer," Bill said, tracing his claws over Ford's shoulder. "The whole world's a party, and you're a guest! So learn to love it, and have fun!" The mouths covering his body broke into simultaneous grins when Ford's body became wracked with sobbing. "Oh, I know what you need. A little bit of bonding time with your family!" Bill uncurled from around Ford's body and drew back. "And I think I hear them coming!"

Ford let out a strangled yelp. "NO—!" he choked, uncurling and scrambling up before drawing back when he got the full view of the massive THING that was Bill Cipher. "PLEASE! JUST KILL ME, BILL! PLEASE!"

"Oh, why would I do that?" Bill cackled. "I like you too much to just poof you from existence!" He reached out a claw and poked Ford's forehead.

Ford felt like his body would fall apart and liquefy at the same time, doubling over and emptying his stomach of what very little he had been able to find to eat. By the time he was able to right himself, Bill was gone. He coughed, wiping his mouth and eyes, wishing more than anything that he truly had his family back.

Giggling behind him made his body go rigid and cold, feeling more tears run down his face.

"We found you, Grunkle Ford!"

The sound of screaming could be heard throughout the forest, echoing for a long, long time.


End file.
